Clasp.



PATENTED JULY 21, 1903.

J. H. PILKINGTON.

CLASP. I APPLIOATIOK FILED OUT. 7, 1902.

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UNITED STATES Patented J'uly 21, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

CLASP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 7 34,089, dated July 21, 1903.

7 Application filed October 7, 1902. Serial No. 126,314. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH H. PILKINGTON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Waterbury, county of New Haven, State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Clasp, of which the following is a specification.

using referencecharacters to designate the several parts.

Figures 1, 3, and 5 are elevations illustrating the application of the principle of my invention to variant styles of clasps. Figs. 2, 4, and 6 are sectional views oflthe respective forms on the section-lines indicated in Figs. 1, 3, and 5, respectively, Figs. 2 and 6 showing my novel clasp in the open position and Fig. 4 showing it in the closed position; and Fig. 7 is a sectional view illustrating a slight modification of the form illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6 and also indicating in dotted lines the mode of closing the jaws.

The essential features of my invention are a pair of spring arms or jaws, each of which is provided with a slot having a cross-bar crossing the slot transversely and a closinglever having at one end a loop or elongated eye which incloses the cross-bars, the free end of the lever being movable to a position within the slot.

10 denotes the arms orjaws, which maybe blanked out from sheet metal and are so' shaped asto cause them to normally assume the open position. The two jaws may be made from one piece of metal folded upon itself at its mid-length, as in'Figs. 5, 6, and

- 7, or they may be made in two pieces, which may be soldered together or held together by a rivet or rivets 11, as in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4, or they may be held together by a sleeve 12, as in Figs. 5 and 6. In the form illustrated in Figs. 3 to 6, inclusive, the clasp is shown as provided with a loop or opening 13 to receive a web, and in Figs. 1 and 2 a cord 14 is shown as secured to the clasp by means of a clamp 15, formed in suitable manneras, for instance, by folding portions of the metal over upon the cord. In practice oneof the arms or jaws is made slightly longer than the other, so that the inwardly-turned ends 16 of the arms or jaws may just lap past each other.

The inturned ends may or may not be pro-- to their open position when the loop is at right angles to the clasp, as clearly shown in Figs. 2, 6, and 7., The special constructions of the lever and loop are not of the essence of my invention, slightly-different forms being illustrated in Figs. 2, 6, and 7.

The operation will be clearly understood from Figs. 2, 6, and 7, which see in connection with Figs. 4 and 5, which show the same forms in the closed position. The act of closing is performed by lifting the lever from the horizontal position, as'in Figs. 2, 6, and 7, toward the vertical position, as in Figs. 1, 3, 4,

and 5, an intermediate position being clearly indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 7. It will be seen that as the lever is lifted or turned on the cross-bars the side walls of the loop will act to move the crossebars toward each other, thus forcing the jaws to the closed position.

The construction illustrated in the drawings is double acting-that is .to say, the slot is made longer than the lever, so that the free end of the lever will swing through the slot, thus enabling the operator to open the clasp by swinging the lever in either direction.

It will be readily understood that when the jaws of the clasp are in closed position the free end of the lever is located within the slot. Hence when used in connection with a stocking-supporter there is no liability of the lever being moved to a position to open the jaws by a movement of the trousers, &c., in a direction longitudinally of the clasp, there being no projecting part of the lever which could be caught by such extraneous part of the wearing-apparel during such movement.

Having thus described my invention, I claim A clasp comprising a pair of spring arms or jaws which normally assume the open position, each of said arms or jaws being pro Vided with a slot and a transverse cross-bar, and a closing-lever having a loop adapted to lie in the slots and inclosing the cross-bars, 

